The BGN News Archive

October 1, 2018

Hairspray Queen
Photo: Blowfish

Judging by online listening the Wednesday show at the Middle East
had promise, so there we went.

Dube
Photo: Blowfish

The first group we saw was Dube from Canada. They reminded
us a bit of Black Beach in the way their music was loud and
aggressive without relying on power chords or going metal. Turns out they have
an inspiring story behind the origin of the band. Read
that here

They are so Canadian that they had an amplified hockey stick called a Guit-ocky
stick (we think that’s what they called it). They just used it for one
song but the three string stick did a good job. Check it out in the video below.

A lot of the set was like “Pretty
Girls on Bikes” where there were a few dynamic ups and downs. One
song that stood out was where the singer explained it was about “life
and death”. The song began in a quiet way and slowly gained some steam.
At the halfway point the guitarist carved out a space with a rusty toned solo
which was perfect for the song. Then they ramped it up some more and then ended
softly. The whole song had a wonderful arc. We just loved the whole set really.

Beach Goons
Photo: Blowfish

That was also true of Beach Goons. They're from San Diego
and as their name suggests they have some surf influences. Those textures are
mixed in with a garage punk sound.

This is also the mix of Black Beach and Today Junior. The Beach Goons
were on the raw end of things which is where we love it. They had the knack
of putting a short melody hook on a few chords, sort of like pop punk. They
did it many times and it was rewarding to keep finding those moments. We were
already in a good mood after Dube and Beach Bums continued that buzz. Some of
the music reminded us of older influences. The sixties surf was obvious but
there were some things that reminded us of even older fifties ways. To confirm
that guess, they ended with a cover of "La Bamba" (video below).

Super Whatevr
Photo: Blowfish

Those first two bands were loose and raw which is exactly what Super
Whatevr were not. They were tight and sharp. Their songs had
much more detail in them and the playing was excellent all around. They
had an indie feel to them. You could tell the audience was there for
them. There were 50 to 60 people there. People were singing along with
the songs. One called “Kathrin With a K” was greeted with
cheers. Somewhere we don’t know about, this band is getting attention.
This wasn’t just a regular show at this point. The people there
really loved this band and were soaking up every word. You could feel
the emotion in the room. They were connecting big time.

The band started in 2016; maybe this is the beginning of something
and we'll hear more about them in the future. Here’s a YouTube
video of "Telelelevision," off their new album Never Nothing
out now on Hopeless Records!

There was a lot going on Friday. We took a short look at what was going on
at the Fuzzstival at Once. Looking at the
line up there didn’t seem to be much, or any, psych bands and we thought
that was the point.

Hairspray Queen
Photo: Blowfish

But we didn’t care when Hairspray Queen from
Providence took the stage...well, the band took the stage; the singer
was all over the floor in front of the stage. They describe themselves
as punk/goth/hardcore/hip hop/post punk. We not sure it’s any
of those except post punk. The band was putting out a noisy screeching
backdrop. When they stopped playing, the feedback still rang out uncontrolled.

The singer jumped off stage early and was writhing all over the floor, crazy
dancing, stuffing the microphone through his shirt, confronting the audience
a la Andy MacBein of The Monsieurs (who were also on the bill), running around
the dance floor and taking his shirt off and then on and then getting tangled
in the shirt. It was a wild performance.

In a smaller club that would all be even more amazing. They were a find. We’ll
be looking for future shows. Here’s their Bandcamp
page

Le Neve
Photo: Blowfish

Next up was La Neve with dance music via turntables with a singer in drag.
Sorry but, dance music leaves us cold and we think we missed the message because
on their Bandcamp page
they say the words are “decrying decaying working standards, condemning
artists who uphold the status-quo, and proclaiming an urgent need for action
- but puts it through a deadpan dance filter”.

Rick Rude Ensemble
Photo: Blowfish

The Rick Rude Ensemble that followed played some nice indie
music.

We left feeling we missed the psych that we came for, but there was many acts
to follow.

Hambone Skinny
Photo: Blowfish

We wanted to see Stop Calling Me Frank CD release party at
Sally O’Brien’s. It was a Rum Bar night with Hambone
Skinny opening. We were in the mood for the bluesy swamp music.
There was a nicely done R.L. Burnside song that captured a mood.

The band seems so right in the cozy Sally O’s. They made the
club feel like a living room with friends, which is what Stop Calling
Me Frank did later also. They closed with their version of early Fleetwood
Mac’s “Green Manalishi” where they took the song to
the bayou.

Soraia
Photo: Blowfish

Soraia has a record on Little Steven’s label
and their song “Still
I Rise” has been played on the show many times. The singer
had a stunning voice; she could crank it up and it was impressive. Early
on they did a cover of the NY Dolls “Trash” and that went
down well with us. It began with an almost Doo Wop begining. That is
the first video below.

They also covered a Prince song that was cool. It was mostly melodic
rawk that was easy to take.

Stop Calling Me Frank
Photo: Blowfish

You could tell Stop Calling Me Frank were up for this gig
and when they hit the stage they were a non-stop freight train. They played
many of the songs from the CD. They started with “Spider In My Beer”
with the first words “Coo, coo, coo, coo”. That didn’t sound
like what any other band would ever do. You laughed, tapped your foot and you
were in SCMF land.

One standout on the CD is “5000 Miles”, which they did, and we
were surprised to find out it is a cover of a Piranha Brothers’ song.
They are playing more and more lately and as a result are tighter than ever.
They did their set but it wasn’t enough. Even though it was getting past
1am they steamed through three more songs. It felt like a house party by then.
The SCMF story is one of artistic integrity and endurance…and of party
time, too.

We like the Saturday afternoon shows at Midway and we went again this week.

Instamatics
Photo: Blowfish

The Instamatics are a surf band. They're not your usual surf
band playing note for note reproductions of “Pipeline” or “Hawaii
Five-O”. They punked it up a bit and had a set that was a collection of
originals and unexpected covers. The bass player is Eric from the Grommets.

Their originals followed the surf template of composition but were delivered
without gloss. It was a garage version of surf and probably closer to what a
real surf band would have sounded like. The song titles, like “Too Drunk
To Surf”, show where they are coming from .

They started playing a song that we recognized as a cover but couldn’t
peg. Slimedog was there and ID’d the song as “The
Model” by Kraftwork. If you didn’t know the original song you
would have sworn it was a surf classic. The following song, the same thing happened
again and Slimedog knew it was a cover of The Cure's “The
Forest” That was a big leap for a surf song but it worked.

They took an older music form and gave it some life. Way to go Instamatics!!!

By the way the Instamatic was the camera Miss Lyn used in 1976 to take
early photos for the BGN of the Dead Boys, Willie Loco and the Plasmatics.

More Beer Please
Photo: Blowfish

More Beer Please, from Lowell, was a change from surf with
some hard hitting hardcore. The lead singer took a stand on the floor right
from the beginning. True to the band name he seemed ossified. It might have
been a put on because the music had some fast change ups and he hit all of them,
no problem.

He was doing the screamo thing and putting everything into it. It made for
an exciting show. After a half dozen songs he switched with the guitar player.
Then the guitar player was on the floor singing. It now was like a regular band.
It was like the balloon popped. But it was a good dose of loudness in any case
and we like it.

The New Frustrations
Photo: Blowfish

We’ve seen The New Frustrations many times over a long
period and we love them now more than ever. They put you in a pop place and
they make it look easy. They played mostly the same set as when we
saw them in August

It’s a great set with originals like “Radio Generation” and
“Right As Rain” and covers “Teenage Head” and the obscure
“She’s on the Cover (of Explosion Magazine)” by The Model
Rockets. Anyone who likes rock pop would love this band. At this point we just
want to see them again.

More band photos below the show listings

And in other news.....

We love Mark E. Smith of The Fall. We see
that he got a mural on the fish and chips place in his home town of Prestwich.
Check
it out here.

Punk/Hardcore Artist of the Year: Actor|Observer, Art Thieves, Choke Up, Nice
Guys, OC45, Oh The Humanity!, Rebuilder, Street Dogs, The Monsieurs, Tied To
A Bear. That's a pretty good list! Black Beach and Salem Wolves are in there
for Rock Artist of the Year. Weakened Friends and Carissa Johnson & the
Cure-Alls get the nod in a few categories also.

Harvard has had Arthur Freedman’s material for a while
now. They are hinting that they will say some anouncement soon. You can see some of the material listed here on their Archive page.... here. And here is the Arthur
Freedman page!
They're always been looking for ancillary info about the shows captured. As
this goes on it would be great if the bands offered input themselves. Contact
info is at the bottom of the Arthur Freedman collection page.

Tim Downie (Marsman) who used to play for
the New Frustrations (who we saw this week, see below,) got
into the very glossy South
Shore Living magazine. Seems he’s part of a group called Plymouth
Rocks Events, Inc. who are using rock and film shows to raise money for
local school music programs. Another example of Punks doing good. And visit
Mars Records
when you are in Plymouth!!

Here’s a shocker. In the latest issue of Goldmine magazine,
the MC5 man himself, Wayne Kramer is asked what he
is listening to now and he says, “There’s a band called
Lake Street Dive which I’m sure all of my hard rock fans will
hate me for saying I love them but too bad. They are a great band with
great musicians. They look great and sing great. They write great songs
and they can play live music. They are real musicians. I just think
that they are everything I would love to see in a real band.”

October 19 (Friday)Sidewalk Driver,
Watts, Justine and the Unclean at Thunder Road

October 19 (Friday) Halloween Show with
Kid Gulliver, The Knock-Ups, Ski Bunny, Sapling will include
Special Halloween covers and a full cover set with The Knock-Ups doing Siouxsie
and the Banshees. At jeanie Johnston Pub in JP

October 20 (Saturday) Nervous Eaters,
Indonesian Junk, Duck & Cover at the Middle East Up

October 20 (Saturday) Stop Calling
Me Frank, Crunchtime, The Jiblantos and The Black Souls at The Midway
for a 4PM matinee. Hey everyone this is a John
KeeganBIRTHDAY BASH so come on down!!!

October 20 (Saturday) If We Go At All, Modern Day Idols, Double Star, Powerslut
at The Midway night show

October 21 (Sunday) Boston Premiere of
the Chet's Last Call Documentary at The Regent Theater
Arlington with live performances byRandy Black and The Heathcroppers,
The Dogmatics, Bim Skala Bim, TBA Allstars - starts at 7PM TIX
etc

October 27 (Saturday) Lyres, GLiDER,
the modifierS at The Middle East Up- Early show doors at 6:30PM

October 27 (Saturday) The Descendents
w/ Teenage Bottlerocket at The Palladium in Worcester FB
page for tix etc

October 28 (Sunday)Roy Sludge at Sally O'Brien's

October 28 (Sunday)Zipper, The
Instamatics, Larseny, Billy Squire at The Midway for a matinee 4-8 pm show

October 29 & 30 (Mon & Weds) Now here's
how to do Halloween!! At Symphony Hall this Halloween season when Keith Lockhart
and members of the Boston Pops visit The Bates Motel and perform the original
score of the Alfred Hitchcock film, "Psycho", in
sync with the film on the big screen. One of the greatest suspenseful thrillers
of all time, this cinematic masterpiece comes alive with Bernard Herrmann's
spine-tingling score performed live. The unforgettable and disturbing slashing
chords played during the now famous shower scene are just as terrifying now
as they were to first-time audiences in 1960.

November 4 (Sunday) Book release party
for Poetry for the Neon Apocalypse by local Punk Poet Jake
Tringali with Mint Green, Ski Bunny, The Sewer Buddies, Jenn
Lombari, Hyber at The Midway 4-8 PM. FB
page

November 11 (Sunday) Save the date!! Brian
Coleman who has published the much talked aboutBuy Me
Bostonbook will be having a slideshow and panel discussion (including
our very own Paul Blowfish Lovell and David Bieber) to promote the book. It's
at The Brattle Theater - more info as it becomes available.

November 16 (Friday)Justine and
the Unclean, Tad Overbaugh EP Release Party at Sally O'Brien's

November 17 (Saturday)Brian Young's
A Crash Course For The Ravers featuring The Gala!!!
One of our favorite bands!!

November 17 (Saturday) It's HIXXGIVING!!
The joyous return of the annual celebration of white trash culture and redneck
vittles. This year they'll have newcomers - Alice Highland,
New Jersey's Sex Zombies, Your hosts- HIXX
and the formidable Screw Cart. This will, no doubt, be off
the hook! The buffet will be provided by the bands. Hixx asks that you bring
non perishable food items, as always, for a local woman's shelter. At The Midway